The Little Stark
by Hlbur14
Summary: Tony survives the fallout of Endgame, but winds up in hospital and lost in a coma. Peter isn't coping well, and adjusting to life after five years of none existence was beginning to take its toll. But when he meets the Stark daughter, things begin to get better, and worse at the same time. Peter finds himself with a new responsibility, and it might just get him killed.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I watched Spider-Man FFH, which I adored, and it inspired me to start this. It's only a quick start, but please let me know whether you want me to continue it! Happy reading :)**

* * *

After the Snap, Peter Parker would never be the same.

He would never forget the feeling of return. After five years of near darkness, forever wondering where he was, whom he was with and why, oh why, he could not _feel_anything, he would never forget the moment his body had begun to hum with a new-born energy. It had begun in his fingertips, only slight to begin with, like the prick of a needle. But then the feel spread throughout him like wildfire, bringing him to life. But, in the moment he could hear his own heart begin to beat again, he realised he was not alone anymore.

"Come on, Peter! Tony needs us, we have to_go!_" It was the strange doctor, no, Dr Strange. He was right in front of him, and his eyes were urgent and pleading. And then the world began to fade in around him, like he was trapped in a dome. The world rushed beyond, going so fast, too many colours and movements to comprehend. It was like he was in space again, and for the briefest of moments; fear hit him like a smack in the face.

"Come on, kid. Trust me." Dr Strange told him, and Peter did trust him. Tony needed them, and damn it he was not going to let him down again.

In the moment he joined the fight back on Earth, it was a relief to breathe fresh air again. It felt incredible to swing through the air once more, to finally feel at the mercy of gravity yet defy it all at the same time. He felt free again. And when he joined the others, one by one, he could never help but gaze in awe at the scene unfolding around him. Everyone was here, now, together after far too long. And they were going to fight like they had never fought before. And when he saw Tony Stark's awed expression, Peter was determined to do him proud – no apologies, only victory.

He joined the fight like he was born for it. He flew nimbly through the air, aided those when needed and thanked those who aided him. They worked together, all racing for the same goal, all of them determined for the same outcome. He was fighting for his Aunt May, Ned, MJ, and hell, even Flash. He was fighting for his home, his family, his _life. _And when he saw Tony struggling against the biggest brute Peter had ever seen, he knew he was fighting for the Avengers, too, and not just with them.

Yet he couldn't help himself as he rambled to Tony, helping him to his feet. He barely noticed the bizarre look on the older man's face: it was one of confusion, which then morphed into relief, and… were those _tears?_

"Hold me, kid, hold me…" Peter barely caught the words as Tony stumbled towards him.

"What are you doing?" he asked, stunned. But he didn't get a response. Instead, Tony had him in the tightest embrace imaginable. It wasn't an accident, or a joke, but _real. _He heard Tony's breath shake in his ear as he held him tighter, clapping him affectionately on the back once, and then twice.

This was nice – though he said that out loud. He didn't care. He clung to Tony like no tomorrow, burying his face in his shoulder. He never wanted it to end, for this was the one sign of approval he had always wanted from Tony. But they were in the middle of a war, and he knew that he could catch up with Tony once they won, because they would win.

"Mr Stark, I think that we…" he stuttered, and Tony released him, clashing the side of his neck and looking him dead in the eyes. Tony's gaze was focused, determined, and Peter was sure that his expression matched his.

"Knock em' dead, kid." Tony told him, and then he was gone.

"With pleasure," Peter replied, mostly to himself, and grinned as his webs allowed him to take flight once more.

When Peter found Tony later, slumped against the wall, his right side burned, he could barely contain himself. Thanos was gone, but no one was celebrating. Tony gazed at him, but his eyes were unseeing, and Peter felt his own heart ripping apart inside him. He grabbed his shoulder, willing him to stay with him, but suddenly a hand pulled gently on his own shoulder.

"No, no, no, no…" he sobbed, but allowed the person to carefully guide him away – it was Pepper Potts. She looked beside herself, and yet she held it together all at the same time as she knelt before her loved one, touching his cheek as she whispered to him. Peter was on his knees, sobbing, shaking, and refusing to believe that this was happening. It couldn't be. They had won. _Why was this happening?_

"Someone, help him, _now_!" Pepper shouted. "Get him up, carefully, and get him to a hospital!"

"Pepper, he-" someone said, maybe Captain America, Peter didn't know.

"F.R.I.D.A.Y. thinks he stands a chance, now _go!_"

Peter couldn't comprehend what was happening. People were moving, flying, shouting and screaming, but he couldn't move. He felt hands touch him, words urge him to get up, but he just couldn't do it. Maybe it was the shock and the exhaustion, but someone, somewhere guided him to his feet and made him walk, murmuring useless things of comfort in his ear. He tried to listen, but his mind only told him one think.

Tony Stark was dying.

* * *

The time at the hospital was agonizing. He sat in the private room, where Mr Stark was lay in the bed under white blankets, with wires and tubes connecting with the rhythmic beeps echoing in the room. He was unconscious, and had been for about 3 days now. Nothing had changed. People came and went, and doctors tried to shoo Peter out, too, but Pepper and Happy wouldn't allow it.

So the hours went by, and Pepper would be in and out all day and all night. When she slept, which was often leaning over his bed at his feet, Peter watched over Tony. And when he slept, Pepper watched over Tony _and _him. They hardly spoke, but nothing needed to be said. Happy was there all throughout the days, bringing food, coffee, and more coffee. Aunt May soothed Peter whenever she could be allowed in, which was again courtesy of Pepper. May struggled to be happy to have Peter back, because he nephew was a ghost of himself.

The days turned into weeks, and nothing changed. Pepper, by this point, forced Peter to go home. He needed a proper meal, a hot shower, and a good sleep in a comfy bed. And boy did he sleep, so full of exhaustion that his body didn't even have the strength to dream. And when his body roused him into a shaking sobbing mess, May was there to comfort him without question.

Upon return to the hospital, about four weeks after the second Snap, Peter looked almost like a human being. Walking down the corridors of the hospital, turning this way and that evening passing Happy as at café on the way, he wondered the same route he had now come to memorise on the way to Tony's room.

Once there, Pepper also looked refreshed. She wore a smart grey suit with a white blouse and comfy flats, and she was adjusting the flowers beside Tony's bedside. He continued to sleep, and his heart rate remained the same – steady, stable. In his slumber, his face was healing, and it was slowing becoming hard to believe he had been in the war for Earth.

"Hey, Miss Potts," Peter greeted politely.

She smiled warmly at him. "Happy is getting the coffee, though I must say you look far more alive than I have ever seen you."

"I don't feel it," he murmured, looking at his feet. Pepper hummed quietly.

"It will take time, Pete, but he will get there." She raised her gaze to meet his and smiled, her smile warming him to the bone. He tried to return it, and half managed it. But then her gaze moved beyond him, towards something behind him, and she went from smiling to beaming. "Actually, Peter, there was someone I wanted you to meet. I feel like now is as good a time as any."

Peter turned, confused, and at first he only saw Happy. Happy winked, handing over a cup of warm, appealing coffee. Peter took it just as something caught his eye behind Happy, moving shyly behind his legs. Big brown eyes met his own, beaming with curiosity, and a little face full of mischief, just like Tony, drank him in. Peter stared, his heart pounding, and the reality of being gone for five years finally hit him all at once.

"Peter, I want you to meet our daughter, Morgan." Pepper murmured, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "She's heard all about you."

Peter knelt down, and for the first time, the beeping of the machines keeping Tony alive finally melted away. Morgan Stark had thick, shiny brown hair, and the curiosity in her eyes reminded him so much of what he was like at her age. She must have been five years old, and her face and demeanour made her seem like she had the whole world figured out and ready to deduce at her fingertips.

"Hi, I'm Peter." He told her, smiling. She smiled back, a toothy smile.

"I'm Morgan." She replied. "Daddy says you're Spider-Man." She broke out into a grin. "He's the second coolest Avenger."

"Oh yeah?" Peter said, grinning back. "Then who's the coolest?"

"Oh," she said, touching her finger to her chin as if in deep thought. "Well, Daddy, of course."

"Of course," Peter murmured, but Morgan was already walking past him. She strolled over to her mother, who kissed the crown of her head fondly, before she then clambered onto the bed of her unconscious father. She perched herself there, crossing her legs as she went, and grabbed a book that had been on the bedside. She began to read, mostly to Tony, but she had the attention of the entire room, including the two nurses that came in to check over her father.

And in that moment, as the daughter of Tony Stark held the complete attention of her audience with next to no effort, there was no doubt that she was his daughter. And suddenly, Peter felt his heart beat that little bit stronger again. Hope really did exist.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey! Next chapter is up, but it's only a short one... Sorry, complete exhausted from a busy day!**

**I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

The next day, Peter met Morgan Stark for the second time. Tony still slept in his bed, and Pepper continued to float in and out of the room all afternoon, but not without the motherly guard in her eyes as she glanced at Morgan. But the little girl seemed pretty happy.

She sat with her legs crossed on the floor at the foot of the hospital bed. Peter sat opposite her, and the pair stared daringly at each other, almost to the point of glaring. Ridiculous; a sixteen-year-old boy having a _glaring _match with a five-year-old girl. Yet there they sat, with a pile of cards between them face up. They both gripped their packs of cards, face down, and Peter slammed down another card facing up, revealing its identity.

A six of diamonds, matching the six of hearts beneath it.

"_SNAP_!" they both screamed, but Morgan was faster. She slammed her tiny hand on the pile, which was a substantial amount, and grinned wickedly at Peter.

Peter shook his head in defeat, but was grinning despite himself.

"Don't let her win, Pete," Pepper cautioned, touching his shoulder and smiling as she glided past. "She'll become as big headed as her dad."

"It's not my fault I'm better than him, mommy." The child huffed, pushing the pile towards Peter. He smiled. She was so much like Tony it was almost unreal. She was so confident in the way she spoke, so sure of everything, it was admirable. He remembered being her age. He remembered believing how he thought he knew everything, and that one day he would conquer any problem that got in his way no matter what. Only, with Morgan, he actually believed that she could, and would, conquer everything.

"Watch your tone, young lady." Her mother murmured, but her tone had ice laced within it. The child before him cringed, and, to his own surprise, he cringed with her.

"She's okay," Peter reassured, offering a sheepish smile over his shoulder. He then turned back to Morgan. "Hey, you hungry?" he asked.

"Yes!" she jumped up in a flash, the cards scattering at their feet in the process. Peter quickly gathered them and packaged them away, but she was already out of the door, running out of sight.

"Morgan!" Pepper shouted.

"I got it, Miss Potts!" Peter called, already running after her. He nearly bumped into a nurse on the way and clumsily apologised, only to race down the corridor so as not to lose sight of Morgan Stark. Damn, she was _fast. _She weaved and ducked through doctors, nurses and surgeons alike, most of which barely noticed her, for they were too busy getting out of Peter's way. He apologised profusely, desperate to not hit anyone or send paper work flying. It was all he could do to not lose track of something so small, and he was beginning to wonder if he too had been so nimble at her age.

But where she was fast, she did not have a sixth sense, unlike Peter. She collided head long into the legs of none other that Happy Hogan, and it was evident that he bit back a curse in his surprise.

"Miss Stark!" he cried, and quickly lifted her to her feet.

"I'm fine!" she cheered, and her big eyes landed on Peter when he finally caught up.

"You okay?" he asked, chucking her chin. She beamed at him, and he grinned back.

"You have to be careful," Happy cautioned her, kneeling down to meet her level. "If your dad finds so much as a bruise on you, do you know who will be in trouble?"

"Me?" Morgan relied, looking worried.

"No, _me._Stay out of trouble." He stood, and he caught Peter's eye. "Watch her, she's a fast one."

"Got it." Peter replied, and gently clutched the child's shoulder. Happy left them, heading in the direction they had come from, and Peter guided Morgan towards the hospital's cafeteria. She obliged to his every movement, stepping in line with him and careful to not get in anybody's way. When she remained quiet, Peter looked down at her as they joined the queue for the dinner line. He nudged her, offering her a smile, but her eyes looked troubled.

"Will he wake up?" she asked him, and suddenly Peter's heart ached. Oh, how he wished he knew the answer to that. All he had wanted over the last few weeks was to hear him call him "kid" again, just one more time. He just wanted to hear his voice, for him to promise that everything would be fine and that everything would go back to normal.

He wanted to speak to Tony about everything. He wanted to talk about what he had missed in the five years that he was gone. He wanted to understand what had happened to him. Sometimes, Peter woke up in a hot flush, calling out to no one, and he would pat himself down to be sure that he was still there, and not ash to the wind. Other times, he couldn't get to grips with how may of his classmates had moved on from high school and coming towards the end of college. Some of them he hasn't seen since he had come back.

He missed his old life, and Tony seemed to be the only person he currently wanted to talk about it with. But Tony wasn't well, and he wouldn't be for a long time.

But he wasn't going to tell Morgan that. "Of course he will, and in no time you'll be beating him at 'Snap' too." He ruffled her hair, and she smiled, nodding to herself. Over the next hour, Peter bought himself and her some bacon sandwiches, which they ate in silence in the cafeteria. He watched as Morgan gazed upon those around her, reading everyone around them. It was like she was trying to find the words to their stories, or trying to understand who they were without talking to them. She was fascinating to watch, for he could tell that her mind never switched off for even a moment, just like Tony's.

When she had finished, her eyes finally met Peter's. "Can we go back to daddy now?"

"Sure," he said, standing. "Lead the way."

She took his hand without a word and moved back in the direction they came from, but the excitement seemed to have left her. Peter was beginning to learn that, despite her age, she wasn't daft. She knew where she was and the severity of it, but she was being incredibly brave in keeping it together. It was then that Peter realised that this was much harder on her than it was on him, and she was only a child. He couldn't bare the idea of her having to say goodbye to Tony, let alone himself.

Peter knew that Morgan would be the number one person in his life. He knew that, once he woke up, the first thing he would say would be Morgan's name. And he was okay with it. Tony deserved far more happiness that he ever allowed himself to believe, and to have both Pepper and Morgan in his life was a far greater achievement than any amount of money that came his way. Peter knew that these two people were Tony's world. And, until he woke up to show them just how important they were, to protect them and to love them, Peter would do everything in his power to keep them safe in the time that he couldn't.

He owed him that much, at least.

* * *

Later, when Happy took Morgan home, Peter allowed himself to sit beside Tony's beside. He rested his elbows on the mattress, just above Tony's elbow, and he stare furiously at the healing billionaire. They said that people in comas could hear those around them, and he wondering if he had been listening all this time. He hoped that could, just so that he could be reassured that everyone was okay, for if anything he would be torturing himself with the unknown.

But as he watched him, alone in his hospital room, he found himself talking to him without even realising it.

"I need you to wake up, Mr Stark." He said quietly, resting his chin in his palms. "We all do. Your daughter is amazing, truly she is. She asked me today whether you would wake up, and I told her you would. I intend for that to be the truth, Mr Stark, because… because she needs her dad to come back and take her home. She's a good kid, sir, very much like you. She tormented me with games of 'Snap' all day, and damn, she's a fast one. Did you teach her how to play so violently?"

The question hung in the air, and it was met with nothing but silence. Peter sighed into his palms, shaking a little. "Please, just… just make sure you wake up. I don't expect you to wake up for my benefit, not at all… but you have to wake up for _them_." The stillness of the room was thick, almost suffocating. "But, until you do, I'll do what I can to make sure they're okay."

But when Peter left for him and eventually fell into his mattress, nothing but nightmares consumed him, and all of them were in a world where Tony never woke up again.


End file.
